IMPORTANT VIDEO : Darktable Export to Photoshop & Lightroom PROBLEM SOLVED - AUTOMATIC PROCESS!

Patreon Members Videos & Articles: bit.ly/2SwaSZ6
Darktable Export to Photoshop & Lightroom PROBLEM SOLVED
In this Darktable tutorial video I'm looking at a simple, easy, clean & efficient way to export your Darktable processed images into Photoshop, by using the old Lightroom watch folder.
There is a lot of talk on the darktable forums about lua script add-ons to do the job, but frankly, they don't always work, and they are hard work in comparison to the method I show you here.
Chapters:
00:00 Basic Intro and WHY folk WANT to do this.
02:48 Raw Therapee GETS it RIGHT - BIG TIME!
05:03 "The FIX" - seamless importing setup.
09:37 Let's do it again with a 32bit HDR
14:25 In Conclusion
==============================================================================
PLEASE help support this channel by liking, subscribing and commenting - it really does help!
Joining my Patreon Channel / andyastbury helps me even further, plus gets you access to an ever-growing amount of exclusive member's only content.
You could donate to the channel by clicking the 'Thanks' button under the video, or by PayPal at [e-mail]
Many thanks to all the people who help out already - seriously, THANK YOU ALL.

[@AndyAstbury]

Important NOTE: 03:13 Output Directory - Thanks to @grahamsmith7938 for this code to force the save to the same directory as the original $(FILE_FOLDER)/$(FILE_NAME)

[@lphilpot01]

Andy, I don't want to add noise to the discussion so feel free to delete this comment if it's too far off-topic. But since you mentioned Affinity Photo (at least on-screen)... AP doesn't do folder watching and I don't know about Photo Mechanic. But an easy way to get a similar workflow is to use the (free for personal use) image viewer XNview MP and configure one of its Alt+whatever "Open with" hotkeys to point at AP. Go to the darktable export folder in XNview and select the TIFF, press Alt+1 (or whatever) and it'll open in AP. It's not absolutely seamless, but it's basically just export, Alt+tab, Alt+1 and you're ready to go. And of course you could use PS (via XNview) if so desired, but there's no reason. Also if you're interested XNview MP is available for Mac. Just wanted to mention it.

[@AndyAstbury]

Excellent info 👌 Cheers Len !

[@korhankumral3260]

Thanks Andy, very helpful video. I follow a different way for both Photoshop and lightroom Export. First of all, you need to use lua scripts. In order to activate the lua script on darktable, it is necessary to install Git. You can define Photoshop and photoshop beta and lightroom paths in the lua options in the preferences menu. Then you can export directly to photoshop or another with the “external editor” plugin in lua scripts. As this file tiff you sent, Darktable collection is added at the same time. After making the edits, you save with Ctrl + S and finished.

[@AndyAstbury]

As I mentioned in the video, lua scripting is difficult to install for some people, and as yet, I have not found anyone running Mac OS who has got any of them working apart from the one that exports to photoshop WITHOUT any of the dev settings applied. And what use is that? Lua scripting is more work than my way - don't forget, my way is for people who have Lightroom and Photoshop that is constantly up to date on any platform. May be lua scripting works better on a PC, but it's still more work to do than a simple Lightroom watch folder. But if you have it working with lua, then more power to you! Thanks very much for the feedback and info - much appreciated

[@lphilpot01]

@@korhankumral3260 FWIW I installed git / LUA, etc. on my Windows installation and it never worked (for AP), at least not reliably. Maybe I was doing something wrong, dunno. But even though I tend to inherently like the technical aspect of software, IMO having to install git, LUA, etc. to get what I consider to be a fundamental feature working is a bit much. If it were a specialized, esoteric capability, maybe. I think raster editor integration should be moved internal, as it were. But that's just my opinion as a part-time user. 🙂

[@grahamsmith7938]

Photo Mechanic has a watch folder option designed for tethered shooting, but you could simply keep the darktable export folder open in PM and drag the the image thumbnail from PM into PS, or right click in PM and chose open in PS. You also have the option to choose whether you want to permanently catalogue the file in PM

[@AndyAstbury]

Good to know Graham, and I'm sure others will benefit from your info.

[@grahamsmith7938]

@@AndyAstbury On a slightly different tack, but also possibly useful, and I'm not sure if you have mentioned it, if you use the following variables in the DT export to field: $(FILE_FOLDER)/DT_$(FILE_NAME) DT will save the exported tiff alongside the original raw, using the original file name but prefixed with "DT_" (and obviously with a .tiff suffix). I'm adding the DT suffix just to identify files that have come from Darktable, but, $(FILE_FOLDER)/$(FILE_NAME) will do the same without adding the prefix

[@AndyAstbury]

Good to know Graham. But, like the majority of folk on this planet, I don't understand WTF that code means - well, I do now. But in the likes of RT, the devs put a radio button and "same as original" next to it, so ANYONE can understand it. Same goes for Adobe, COP etc. Not everyone who wants to use Darktable knows code-speak, if you see where I'm coming from.

[@grahamsmith7938]

@@AndyAstbury Yes, it would be nice for it to be just a drop down menu where you could choose this as an option. It's as you probably know very common in Open Source to give access to "Programming like Capability" to allow users to expand a programs capability as the GUI is developed. Did RT always have that radio button? I seem to remember having to go through some rigmarole to get files saved back beside the raw, when I first started using it. But variable or tokens (in Capture one speak) can also be very useful where the GUI is more fully developed. I've used them in Capture One to automatically name an export folder based on the type of export type, to rename files when ingesting them with PhotoMechanic. I also use variables with PhotoMechanic so PM can use the file capture date to automatically Spring, Summer, Autumn or Winter as a keyword.

[@fotolookconde]

Hi @Andy Asbury there's any chance to do the same with Affinity Photo? Thank you in advance for your time.

[@AndyAstbury]

See Len Philpots very helpful comment below for the info.

[@fintonmainz7845]

Young Mr Astbury: can you recommend free photo slideshow software? Thanks for all the videos.

[@AndyAstbury]

Cheers! Sorry, but I know nothing about FREE slideshow apps - I always use Lightroom to do mine for clubs etc. iMovie is supposed to be good if you are on Mac, but as for PC I really couldn't say.

[@fintonmainz7845]

@@AndyAstbury thanks Andy

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

Darktable and Affinity Photo and PhotoLab use the native file system on my PC - as opposed to e.g. the complex file systems of Lightroom and CaptureOne, and all my images are stored in an archive folder per creation date. So, my workflow from Lighttable is simply to export TIFFs, which will end up in the same folder as the RAW file, and if I want to edit either of them in AP or PL it's a simple load from the identically displayed archive listing in one of those editors. The only chance to fuc.. up is to forget the date when swapping, but otherwise it's as simple as it can be. The output from AP and PL, as well as from PureRAW will default to the native folder. I am the Satisfaction itself, though .. I could be careless and have overlooked a finesse here? ;O/ Is it when you need Lightroom as an entry to Photoshop? Well, my TIFFs and DNGs load in old CS5 in the same way as described above - I just need to remember the date.

[@AndyAstbury]

See Eigil, this is why I never teach/preach/demo file management/DAM. Everyone develops their own way of working, folder structuring etc, and the way that works for you is perfect - for you! Personally, I'm crap with dates, but very event-aware - so you can guess what MY folder structure looks like. FYI - Lr and COP can use your native file system too - you just have to tell them in the first place.

[@Eigil_Skovgaard]

Just so you don't get any unmentionable thoughts about me, my archive key is 'date, place' fairly unique for my level of activity. Otherwise we are 10^2 percent in sync - as usual ;O)

[@asquared8399]

at 03:33: "You can't remember where the raw file is in the first place" - the 'image information'>'full path' gives this info. immediately, in either lightable or darkroom with minimal effort. I must be missing something here, but I don't see the problem. I can export my image, typically as a tiff, , to wherever I choose, very simply. PS can open that image just as simply, especially if it is already open. I have been using this process since removing Lightroom from my work flow 4 years ago.The number of additional key strokes is too small to be of significance to me, because I don't need to work on 10's to 100's of images at a time, from. say. a wedding shoot. Perhaps that's the point I'm missing.

[@AndyAstbury]

If you want to get the images back into the digital asset management chain, especially if those shots reside in different folders, your way would be something of a pain in the arse. This way, it's all automatic - you don't have to think, or remember anything - which for most folk is a GOOD thing. When you have over 350,00+ images spread over 6 or more storage drives, you might see the point.

[@asquared8399]

@@AndyAstbury "When you have over 350,00+ images spread over 6 or more storage drives,....." - well, I take your point. I don't have anything as extreme as this and I suspect that 90% of the amateur photographers don't either. I have found that darktable's DAM. combined with the file/folder management in Linux or Windows. works more than adequately for my environment of about 55.000 images spread over 60+ years and 6 drives in 2 computers, while, at my age, I'm not great at thinking and have very poor memory, neither of which have so far proved to be a problem are in my way of working.

[@AndyAstbury]

This video is solely for people who have the Adobe Creative Cloud Photo package of current Lightroom and Photoshop - and use Lightroom as their digital asset management system. DT's DAM system is bloody awful by comparison, and Linux doesn't even figure in the picture for obvious reasons.